When we announced the Design Bloggers Conference in 2010, we pivoted on a vision to virtually connect design bloggers and social media wonks in-real-life with education and networking that advanced everyone’s content marketing and blogging expertise. As a blogger in the wine industry, I took deep satisfaction contributing something useful to brethren content creators spending countless hours banging away on keyboards.

Now with the announcement of the Digital Marketing Summit, scheduled alongside the Design Bloggers Conference during Home & Garden Digital Marketing Week in Atlanta, we are driven by the inescapable imperative to create web and social content, participate in niche design networks and marketplaces, dive into e-commerce, drive new leads, and build digital brands and audiences. Our vision remains unchanged; to offer education and networking for staying ahead of game changing developments in the evolution of traditional home design marketing and media.

In 2011 the Design Bloggers Conference became a quick fixture on the industry calendar, right in the midst of a golden era for self publishers in design and other luxury industries. Motivated design pros and enthusiasts were building personal brands, growing well established design businesses, launching design careers, inking deals for namesake product lines, getting book deals, and more. “Cinderella” success stories about monetizing larger-than-life reputations built through blogging turned abundant, and we watched our Design Bloggers Conference grow as a positive catalyst in the middle of it all.

As we organized these conferences each year, I started understanding that the “Design Blog” was becoming an integrated piece of every forward thinking design professional’s marketing program. Celebrity bloggers were joined by thousands of designers, luxury showrooms and retailers, product vendors, architects, and other home design professionals. The “Cinderella Effect” of building rock-star blogger brands starting giving way to regular blog content for SEO advantages and web search discovery for the whole industry. And our little Design Bloggers Conference got bigger because it was no longer just for the dedicated full-time design blogger, but instead it was about the entire design industry’s marketing instincts and need for education.

Even more has changed than just that. The way content is created and consumed has advanced to short and more visual formats. Image and video content found its place and built audiences. Wayfair.com, Houzz, Chairish, One Kings Lane, Viyet, Horchow, Serena & Lilly, Blu Dot and countless other digital design platforms and marketplaces proliferated as consumers enjoyed these new online experiences and design trade pros necessarily adopted these environments as part of their client service, sourcing and marketing initiatives.

With all this, blogging is far from dead. Our Garden and Design Blogger Conferences, similarly represented in this fascinating piece at PROBLOGGER on How Blogs are changing and How You Can Stay on Top, remain anchors of the Home Design Digital Marketing Week. They offer cutting edge ways to deal with new subscriber patterns, affiliate programs, changes in SEO guidelines, integration of social tools, and paths to monetization.

Home and Garden Digital Marketing Week, which will now include the Home Design Digital Marketing Summit, is education and networking reflecting the metamorphosis of online marketing for successful home design industry professionals. We are as giddy and eager as were were in 2010 when we brought our Design Blogger Conference to life. You can register now at discounts if you want. Or, you can ask me more at ajapko at esteemmedia dot com. See you in Atlanta in March!

At the Design Bloggers Conference in February, nousDECOR Chief Designer Mark Cutler and Dwell with Dignity Founder Lisa Robison announced the launch of a campaign called “Design Matters” to raise funds to help decorate and appoint homes for deserving families as a pledge highlighting nousDECOR’s mission to help show how the power of beautiful design can transform lives.

Many of you supported the campaign at launch, donating over $10,000 in funds and posting your support on your social channels, and so now we are happy to share with you the heart-warming, real life results of that wonderful support – our first home “reveal” that took place recently in Dallas. nousDECOR, in partnership with nonprofit, Dwell with Dignity, and many amazing sponsors including Cost Plus World Market, Gina Berschneider Inc., Robert Allen, York Wallcoverings, TKO, Stacy Furniture, Guildery, Lamps Plus, The Container Store, and many others, donated over $43,000 in product and spent hundreds of hours to bring the power of great design to a single mother and her four children who are transitioning out of a life of poverty and abuse to a new life of hope.

Below is a video to show the transformation. Have a look, and if you want to continue support of this movement, feel free to share the nousDECOR blog post on your social networks or check out the campaign page here.

I am relieved to only be slightly confused about the intensity of sponsor and exhibitor support for the expanded community of design bloggers and social media enthusiasts that came to Atlanta in 2015 to attend the Design Bloggers Conference. I once thought I fully grasped why this group of bloggers and content-friendly designers were commanding increasing levels of attention from luxury home design marketers. Until these past few weeks, I had totally overlooked one significant underlying factor; designers that blog are “golden.”

In the beginning (circa 2005) when luxury-minded citizens with a penchant for design and designers with an aptitude for content creation launched their blogs, stars were born and audiences were built. The sheer power of blogger reach and influence were fascinations to public relations professionals and traditional media practitioners. Slowly, and just on their heels, national brands and manufacturers started catching on, realizing that the power of design professional content marketing is a force to leverage.

We always suspected that bloggers and social media mavens could move the needle for national brands….simply by looking at their audience size and reach. To support that point, here is some profile data I shared in Atlanta about the attendees of the 2015 Design Bloggers Conference compared to national shelter magazines:

While blogs turned into launching pads for some early movers, savvy marketing-oriented designers determined to be part of the future got active. In the face of the worst housing driven economic crisis in modern history, serious interior designers dove into blogging and social networking en masse to try and power their businesses and networks. While audiences were created and a few more star power brands launched, something new was happening; design professionals creating content witnessed associated business growth and felt the power of these newly found digital marketing tools.

Web traffic grew for designers that hosted once lifeless websites, other design pros starting sharing and quoting designers’ blogs, and everyone had a story or two to tell about projects they landed through social media and blogging. Here is some data from HubSpot comparing businesses that blog with businesses that don’t blog:

Still, I was overlooking a critical piece about what the design blogger community has become today and why designers and bloggers that come to the Design Bloggers Conference are so attractive to brands and manufacturers. The fact is, these designers are serious about their businesses. More than most. They invest in marketing. With hundreds of design events attracting throngs of designers at all levels of experience, commitment, and staying power…..design bloggers are different and show it by making the ultimate marketing commitment of time and money over the long haul.

Designers that blog are golden; to themselves and the brands they work with. They outlast downturns and prosper in strong economic periods. They will move the most product for luxury design brands and manufacturers now, and over the long haul. They think big, invest in their businesses, and market hard while staying open to new technology and shifts in the ways business is conducted. A really straight forward McKinsey article on business longevity declares the “causes of business demise—of a failure to endure—are well documented at a general level. They include…above all an inability to deal with new, often disruptive, technological innovations.” Design businesses that blog and work the right social networks have the characteristics of successful business operators…the top 10% of all performers in their industry.

That’s the part I was missing about why the Design Blogger Conference community is so attractive to our sponsors; attendees are characteristic and part of the top 10% of of the interior design community. Sponsors always find a way to tell us that our attendees are at a quality level they don’t find in similar concentrations at other design events. Understanding that designers that blog are golden, makes it much clearer why brands and manufacturers want to stay close to them.

We are thrilled to announce that Lori Dennis will present her thoughts on Social Media: Roots for Design Collaboration.Social media marketing is more than finding customers. Hear Loris and other design pros share their ideas about how social media and blogging lead to their professional collaboration, new paths, partnerships, and blossoming personal brands and careers. Lori is a top Interior Designer, speaker, best selling author, custom furniture designer, celebrity and star of HGTV’s The Real Designing Women. She specializes in sustainable, green and high end, luxury design. With offices in Los Angeles, New York and Miami the firm considers national and international projects.

A multiple award winning designer, she has appeared in magazines, websites and television screens throughout the world including Elle Decor, LUXE, Dwell, People, the New York Times, House Beautiful, Coastal Living,Los Angeles Times and The Wall Street Journal. Recognized by industry leaders like HGTV, ASID, NBC, Viking and countless others as an expert in luxury and green lifestyles, Lori speaks at events around the globe.

Beth Le Manach, VP Programming, Kin Community, and Host, Entertaining with Beth, will be speaking a this year’s conference.

Beth Le Manach has been cooking and entertaining for over 20 years. She grew up in a family that always entertained, and throwing together a last minute party, has always come naturally. She is a home cook that has refined her cooking skills by cooking, constantly; as well as producing over 500 episodes of food content for both cable and online networks.

She is inspired by her French husband and their many trips to France where she has learned how to cook his favorite French foods, directly from her in-laws. She is also an avid gardener and her extensive vegetable garden serves as the basis for many of her favorite recipes. Her mantra is “minimum effort, for maximum impact.” She lives in Los Angeles, with her husband and two children.

We are ecstatic to announce that Nate Berkus will be speaking at the Design Bloggers Conference.

Nate is a decorator, product designer and author. His interior design firm, which he founded in 1995, designs interiors across the country and around the world. In Fall 2012, Nate brought his branded line of home goods and accessories to Target stores nationwide, and his fabric collections are available at Fabricut, Calico and Jo-Ann Fabric & Craft Stores. He was the host, judge and executive producer on NBC’s “American Dream Builders” in 2014. Nate’s interiors, and design expertise, have garnered national press in publications such as Elle Decor, Architectural Digest, House Beautiful, Us Weekly, People, O Magazine, Lucky and InStyle, among others.

Join us at the conference and take advantage of this opportunity to see Nate!

We look forward with great anticipation to hearing Kelli Ellis address the Design Bloggers Coference. Kelli, interior designer and lifelong traveler, represents the epitome of livable luxury and casual international style. Her celebrity clientele benefit from her extensive world travels, which produce goods of exquisite furniture, dramatic artwork and unique accessories used to create beautiful homes. Her influences translate to her new rug line for Jaipur and gorgeous tile line to debut in Dubai.

An accomplished interior designer, Certified Life Coach and Design Psychology Coach, Kelli received her Certification in Interior Design from the Interior Design Institute in California. She also holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Marketing from California State University Fullerton, a Law school education from Western State University and a liberal arts education from The University of London. Her international schooling and extensive travel have given Kelli a unique perspective in her design work, which has been published in numerous international magazines and regularly contributes to HGTV.com, Riviera Modern Luxury, LUXE Magazine, Las Vegas Luxury Magazine, Image, Dabble Magazine and Hearst publications Nationwide.

You’ve likely seen Kelli as the featured designer on TLC’s Clean Sweep, two season’s of HGTVs Takeover my Makeover, Value Booster’s, Move or Improve, and The House Therapist. You’ve watched Kelli help fan favorites on Bravo’s, Real Housewives of Orange County, transform their homes into their ultimate havens. In addition to HGTV, TLC, Bravo, Kelli has guest appeared on NBC, CBS, ABC Nationwide. The web knows Kelli from eHow.com as their resident Interior Design Expert, professionally blogging for Ziploc. You’ve heard her give decor and “Design Psychology” advice on HGTV Radio/Sirius, MomTV and BlogTalk Radio, and nationwide radio programs. She is also a regular keynote speaker and panelist at High Point Market and Las Vegas Markets. Kelli proudly represents the Society of American Florists, as their interior expert.

We look forward to great anticipation to hear the presentation of Mark Cutler at the Design Bloggers Conference. Mark is the Chief Designer for nousDECOR and Principal of Mark Cutler Design.

Mark will discuss and show different examples of how you can take your blog to the next level, focusing on examples and tips for video bloggers and for photo + text blogs. And he will emphasize the overall idea of addressing this bigger purpose of design by giving back via community involvement in platforms like nousDECOR and other design communities that work to bring techniques and knowledge to a wider array of people across income levels.

Los Angeles-based, acclaimed Australian interior designer and the head of one of Robb Report’s Top 40 design firms in the U.S., Mark Cutler has experience, taste, and a desire to help educate a community passionate about decor. In this role as Chief Designer for nousDECOR, Mark plays an integral role in the company, advising on product evolution and design, identifying professional and retail partnerships, and creating exclusive content for the site, including a weekly “Master Class” series detailing important insider tricks and techniques for decorating spaces. In the near future, Mark will begin providing video tours and tutorials for nousDECOR users to bring the design experience and his philosophy and vision to life, as well as serving as a brand spokesperson with lifestyle media.

As principal of Mark Cutler Designs, Mark has built an global and award-winning portfolio of high profile residential and commercial projects, including homes for celebrities such as Jennifer Lopez and Tom Skerrit, as well as the Cipriani and Regent Hotels. In addition to having participated in the most prestigious showcase houses in Southern California, his work has been featured in many of the leading shelter and design magazines around the world, including Architectural Digest, Metropolitan Home, House Beautiful, California Homes, Home Magazine, The Robb Report, The Robb Report Luxury Home, Kitchen & Bath Trends, Traditional Home, and Kitchen & Bath Ideas, as well as in The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, and The New York Times.

On the television front, Cutler served as the resident interior designer on A&E’s “Makeover Mamas” and has made numerous appearances on HGTV (Designer’s Challenge), MTV (A Day in the Life of Jennifer Lopez), The Style Network (House Beautiful TV), and Discovery Channel, as well as on KABC and KNBC in Los Angeles.

We’re delighted to have Brian Patrick Flynn speak at this year’s conference. Brian is an American television producer turned interior designer. After years writing, producing and directing news programs and home improvement shows, Flynn tried his own hand at residential interiors, quickly earning the respect of his peers and shelter magazine editors. Brian combined his design and decorating skills with his television production experience to create FlynnsideOut Productions, a full service production company specializing in lifestyle-related content. In addition to serving as Founder, Brian also serves as Executive Producer, Set Designer, Writer and Prop Stylist for his projects. Brian is also a contributor and featured designer with HGTV.com.

Called a “Web Marketing Guru” by the New York Times,Marcus Sheridan has traveled the world, helping businesses and brands of all sizes simplify marketing in the digital age so they get results.

We have had the pleasure of hearing Marcus speak and the attendees were absolutely captivated by him! He was by far the best speaker at the conference, which why he has become a highly-sought-after keynote speaker.

Known for his contagious enthusiasm and boundless energy when on stage, Marcus has since become a popular speaker and is also known as the ‘Gary Vaynerchuk of the Swimming Pool Industry.’

Marcus Sheridan is the founder of The Sales Lion, one of the internet’s fastest growing marketing websites focusing on the transformational powers of inbound marketing on small businesses. But before spreading the good word about marketing, Sheridan, who also owns a prominent swimming pool company, established the most popular swimming pool website in the world through content marketing.

Marcus provides simple, real-life examples of how he has made his brand and business wildly successful. In fact, as a result of his own meteoric rise, he has become a very successful HubSpot Partner, training inbound marketers and companies everywhere how to find success.

Marcus’ topic is entitled How Content Marketing Can Build Traffic, Loyal Readers, Your Brand, and Your Bottom Line: With more and more bloggers, and more and more content, standing out from the crowd and building your online presence is harder than it has ever been. In this highly interactive and fast-paced session, popular speaker Marcus Sheridan will explain specific ways you can create content that will not only generate more traffic and loyal readers, but will also help brand you as a thought leader with a unique approach and a top go-to source for gardening information.

Join us at the conference so you can hear Marcus – he’s truly amazing!